42- Ilhad (Deviation) in the Names of Allah, the Exalted, and Its Types
The linguistic meaning of ilhad is to incline towards one side and to lean. The saying of Allah, the Exalted, is of this kind:
لِسَانُ الَّذِي يُلْحِدُونَ إِلَيْهِ أَعْجَمِيٌّ وَهَذَا لِسَانٌ عَرَبِيٌّ مُبِينٌ
“The tongue of the one to whom they wrongly refer is foreign, while this is a clear Arabic tongue.”
Likewise, the grave is called a lahd, because it too is on one side. To recognise ilhad, it is necessary to know the correct belief regarding the names and attributes of Allah, the Exalted, and it is that they be taken in their true meaning, which befits Him, because things are known by their opposites. Therefore, according to the belief and principles of Ahl al-Sunnah, if in these names and attributes their true meanings are neither altered, nor denied, nor is any kind of resemblance imagined in them, this is called istiqamah (uprightness). Once we have understood the meaning of istiqamah, going contrary to it is called ilhad.
The people of knowledge have mentioned several types of ilhad regarding the names and attributes:
① The first type of ilhad is to deny any of the names and attributes established for Allah, the Exalted, just as the disbelievers used to deny the name of Allah, the Exalted, “Al-Rahman”. Or one accepts the name but does not accept its meaning, as some innovators say that Allah, the Exalted, is Rahim (Most Merciful) but there is no attribute of mercy in Him. He is Sami’ (All-Hearing) but the attribute of hearing is not established for Him.
② The second type of ilhad is to assign, of one’s own accord, some name to Allah, the Exalted. This is called ilhad because all the names of Allah, the Exalted, are tawqifi (revealed). No one can assign a name by his own choice, because doing so is fabricating a lie against the Being of Allah, the Exalted, and is a transgression against the right of Allah, the Exalted, and going beyond the limit, just as the Christians added of their own accord the name “Ab” (Father).
③ The third type of ilhad is to hold the belief regarding the names of Allah, the Exalted, that these names indicate the attributes of created beings. This is called ilhad because the one who does this forms the belief that these names resemble the creation. By doing so he takes these names out of their true meaning and deviates from istiqamah, and makes the words of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ indicate disbelief, because likening Allah, the Exalted, to the creation is disbelief, since it is a denial of this saying of Allah, the Exalted:
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ
“There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
And He also said:
هَلْ تَعْلَمُ لَهُ سَمِيًّا
“Do you know of any namesake for Him?”
Nu’aym bin Hammad al-Khuza’i (may Allah have mercy on him), the teacher of Imam al-Bukhari, said:
“Whoever likens Allah, the Exalted, to the creation has committed disbelief, and in the attributes that Allah, the Exalted, has described for Himself there is no resemblance to the creation.”
④ The fourth type of ilhad is to devise names for idols derived from the names of Allah, the Exalted, just as “Lat” is the name of an idol derived from “Allah”, likewise “‘Uzza” is taken from “Aziz”, and “Manat” is from “Mannan”. This is called ilhad because the names of Allah, the Exalted, are exclusive to Him. It is not correct to transfer the meanings established by these names to any created being, so that the right of Allah, the Exalted, is not given to any created being. All the types mentioned above are types of ilhad in the names of Allah, the Exalted.
